More to them than meets the eye
by TitanPilot
Summary: Despite bearing the scars of a tortured life, one medic refuses to allow these twins to suffer any more. Credits to Hasbro and the artist of cover pic!


A group of bots comprising of Jazz, Hound, Prowl and Cliffjumper had gone out to investigate a ruckus on the edge of Kaon said to be between what looked like rogue fighters and Decepticons. Upon arriving at the scene, the four encountered two young mechs viciously slaughtering a small squad of 'cons. These two dirt and energon covered mechs were using only their bare hands to rip apart and punch at their rivals, what was more surprising was that they were winning. After finishing off the rest of the 'cons the four present got a better look at the mess of a pair in front of them. The tallest mech was a faded yellow in color, with scars, energon and dirt covering his frame. Behind him stood a slightly shorter mech with a dull, red paint job and equal amount of mess on him. But what stood out the most were their piercing blue optics and the three deep scars on their chests that looked as old as they were. Prowl could see the utter hatred and distrust that shone in their cyan optics as they stared at the amazed Autobots.

Jazz was the first to speak, his accent thick "Who are ya guys?". He was met with silence. Prowl shared a glance with Jazz as he tried again "Where did ya come from? Ya look pretty banged up, we could take you back and patch ya up". Once again the two didn't respond but merely looked at each other as if they were having a silent conversation. The red one stepped in front of the yellow one and that's when the assembled group got a look at his right leg. It was badly injured to the point you could see the bleeding protoform beneath it, plus it looked infected. For a few moments both the youngsters stood staring at each other until finally the yellow one broke the silence by turning to Prowl, "We'll come. But only to get patched up." And so they journeyed back to base with the two ruffians in tow.

On that day Ratchet hadn't been prepared for what came barrelling through his med bay doors next. He was just doing an inventory check when a flash of yellow and red burst through the doors knocking over tables and trays of tools as they did so. Quickly, he turned around and saw two young dirtied mechs defensively stood in the far corner, their optics darting to the door, to him and back at the door. Moments later, Ultra Magnus and Prowl came running through after them and stopped in their tracks at the opposite end of the room. Ratchet commed them privately "What in pit is going on?".

"We found them on the edge of Kaon fighting a squad of Decepticons on their own. They succeeded too," Prowl instantly replied, not taking his optics off the pair. Ratchet made optic contact with Magnus. "Everything was going fine until we mentioned we were taking them to a medic. As soon as we mentioned the word they freaked and started running. Unfortunately for them they ran straight into here". As Ratchet stared at them for a moment he formulated a plan. "Get out" was all he said to the two officers. They turned to him with bewildered looks "Are you crazy!? They're dangerous and unpredictable we can't just leave them alone with you." "What they are, are scared and injured. It's the fear that makes them dangerous and you being here won't make it any better" with that he ushered them out and shut the doors.

The tension in the room only slightly decreased. Although Ratchet wanted to find out more about these two his first priority as a medic was to ensure their well-being. With his hands outstretched showing he was unarmed he took a step closer "Are you going to tell me your names? I can't keep referring to you as 'you and you'". The yellow one studied the medic for a second before speaking "Why should we trust you?". Ratchet had already anticipated this and retorted immediately "Look, we can stand here all day and I could try and reason with you but by the way you're acting I know it probably won't do any good. I won't ask for your trust, its not something I expect you to just give to me. As things stand, I don't know who you are, where you come from or what you've been through and quite frankly I don't want to waste time arguing with you for information. My only priority is fixing you up, I know you're in pain and trying to hide it but you can't hide it from me. So all I ask is that you let me fix you and we'll let you be on your way."

Both bots didn't know what to say. Similarly to their interaction outside Kaon, they looked at each other as if having some sort of internal conversation. From this Ratchet confirmed his initial thoughts. These two were twins. All the clues added up, the closeness, the wanting to protect the other so valiantly and the internal conversing through the sibling bond they shared. He knew better than to disturb them and merely let them finish whatever they were discussing. After a few minutes silence they both turned their attention towards him "Fine. But try anything and we won't hesitate to hurt you" Ratchet nodded to the yellow one. His brother climbed on to a berth and swung his leg up, relief flooded his face at having some of the pain taken off. Slowly, Ratchet started gathering tools he needed as well as vials of energon which the mech no doubt needed. Every move he made was carefully scrutinised by the yellow twin, waiting for him to make a wrong move. Ratchet walked up to the berth and laid down all the tools for the pair to see " I'm going to need to scan you to determine all of your injuries. Inside and out." The brother on the berth nodded his consent and Ratchet gave him a full body scan. Obvious injuries popped up, like his leg and the other visible cuts and bruises, but what alarmed him were the exceedingly low energon levels. Far below what was considered necessary for normal functioning.

After tending to his leg Ratchet inserted an IV into his arm. At first the red one flinched, but quickly composed himself. Things had been quiet for the entire duration and true to his word Ratchet didn't try to force them to do anything they didn't want to. The one being tended to spoke up for the first time since being brought in "Sideswipe. My names Sideswipe". Ratchet looked up from his work "Well Sideswipe you're all patched up. You just need to wait for the energon transfusion to finish." Sideswipe nodded and gestured to his twin to come over. At first he hesitated, but after a few reassuring nods from his brother he too sat up on the berth. Ratchet went through the same process as he had with Sideswipe and in no time both were sat all patched up and full of pain meds. Ratchet took a step back "As promised once the transfusions are completed you may leave. But I advise you to be careful out there. Should you run into any trouble you can always come back." The faded yellow mech narrowed his optics "What's with all the charity? You don't know us and we're not you're problem. So why bother helping us? We could have killed you and yet you still let us in and fixed us. I know you know where we came from, you recognise our scars. Why let filth like us continue to live when the world would be better off without us."

In all his years as a medic he'd never encountered two like these. They had been so mistreated by the world but still fought for whatever life they'd managed to retain.

The scars on their chests indicated they used to be pit fighters, Cybertronians taken against their will and forced to fight others in similar predicaments. Those usually taken are low life's and rejects, bots no one would notice the absence of. Once taken, they're given three distinct slash marks across their chest to brand them, a sign that they no longer have freedom or rights. All they become are the playthings for others enjoyment, others who take pleasure in seeing the life drain from someone else's optics as their chassis and spark are ripped to shreds. If by some miracle you survive a match, the injuries you obtained are made worse by a resident 'medic'. They couldn't really be called medics. Rather than fixing injuries, they made them worse, taking satisfaction in watching patients writhe in pain beneath their hands. If anything, Ratchet could understand why the twins were afraid. He didn't blame them. They'd probably never known anything else. Despite all this, they hadn't allowed the darkness that stole them, forced them to fight and scarred them, to corrupt their sparks.

"All the pit fighters I've met are violent and unmerciful. If I'd had acted on that assumption I could've let you die by refusing you treatment." He looked the pair dead in the optics "But I helped you because you let me. Just as you said you had the ability to kill me but you chose not to. What does that say about you? You're not what you think you are." This time Sideswipe spoke up "You think you know us but you don't. You have no idea what we've done." "Thats true, I don't. But what I do know is that it's in the past. It isn't our past that defines us but what we do in the present. Right now in the present you chose to spare me so I could help. You didn't hurt me now and that means the bots you've become aren't as bad as you think. You are what you choose to be and you made the choice not to kill me. And in answer to your initial question, you're not my problem. But I see a fire in you two that I don't want to see extinguished before it has a chance to grow and learn. That's why I'm helping you." With that he turned to leave them in peace but not before a quiet voice broke the silence "Just so you know...my names Sunstreaker."

And that was how it began. As soon as Sunny had uttered his name Ratchet knew he'd gained some of their trust, trust he planned to use wisely. Over time the twins were gradually introduced to the rest of the crew and they were given space to adjust. Everybot knew how dangerous it would be to force them so no one approached them unaccompanied in fear they'd be slagged. Ratchet was the only one who was allowed to fix them or even remotely touch them. But as luck would have it they integrated themselves into the Autobot ranks and quickly became infamous as the 'Terror Twins', masters of pranking. Bumblebee became like a triplet to them and together they were a force to be reckoned with, whether they were pranking or kicking Decepticon tailpipe.

 **My first one shot! I've had this one on my laptop for a long time as part of a bigger story but I really love this bit and thought it makes a pretty decent one shot :)**

 **If you like it go check out my other stuff ;)**

 **Leave a comment if you spot any mistakes as I love to accept constructive criticism (or praise XD)**


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